TOWN OF TROY

PARK BOARD MEETING

Tuesday April 22, 2008

7:00 pm, Troy Town Hall

 

Members Present:

Jill Berke, Charlie Macdonell, Brian Schwab, Jim Freund, Mark Daun, Greg Small

 

Others Present:

Jan Cuccia, Troy Town Board, Patrick Bielfuss, Cedar Corp, Scout Chris Thompson, and Tom Mayr the Scoutmaster from Troop 905

 

 

Call to Order 

Chair Berke called the meeting of the Town of Troy Park Board to order at 7:10 PM.

 

Adoption of Agenda

Macdonell moved to adopt the agenda; Freund seconded the motion.  Motion was unanimously carried.

 

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the March 2008 Park Board meeting were reviewed.  Freund moved to approve the minutes; Schwab seconded the motion.  Motion unanimously carried.

 

Review of Park Revenue/Expenditures through March 2008; Approval of Invoices/Impact Fees

  • The park revenue and expenditures through March 2008 were reviewed.  It was noted that impact fees for park improvements total $113,485 and County Park Funds total $91,348.70.
  • Chair Berke moved that the Park Board Secretary be compensated for regular board meetings that last up to 3.5 hours at the rate of $90.00, and at a rate of $20.00 per hour thereafter effective immediately.  Seconded by Schwab.  Motion unanimously carried.
  • Discussion regarding legal fees listed in expenditures and on proper protocol on accessing the town’s attorney…access to the town’s attorney should be made through one of the Town Supervisors.

 

Constable/Park Ranger Report 

The constable/park ranger report was reviewed.  Daun moved to accept the Constable/Park Ranger report, seconded by Schwab.  Motion unanimously approved.

 

Eagle Scout Project Proposal

Chris Thompson, a Scout with Boy Scout Troop 905, presented his proposed Eagle Scout Service Project to the Board.  His project is to remove buckthorn and prickly ash from the trail

 

area immediately south and west of the existing baseball field.  He planned to use hand tools and chemical herbicides (applied by adult leaders) to remove these plants from along the trail.  Assuming satisfactory weather, they planned to mark individual plants for removal with paint the weekend of April 26 and remove the material the weekend of May 3.  Member Freund volunteered to meet Thompson on the 26th and 3rd to oversee the project.

Member Freund moved to approve the project, seconded by Macdonell.  Motion unanimously carried.

 

Parks Planning Planning Process

Chair Berke invited Patrick Bielfuss, Senior Planner for Cedar Corporation, to lead a discussion regarding development of new park facilities within the town.  One question that has been raised is ‘how much parkland should a community have?’.  Bielfuss cited a typical community development practice of dedicating 12 acres of public parkland per 1,000 residents.  Bielfuss will assemble some additional information regarding developing additional parkland plans for Park Board member review.

 

Trail Finishing at Glover Park

Chair Berke spoke with Tim Wegner from Trail Source regarding trail finishing work remaining at Glover Park.  She is working with Trail Source to schedule the finishing work that remains to be completed.

 

Park Board Vacancy

Jan Cuccia has been appointed by the Town Board to the Planning Commission and the Town Board has appointed Brian Schwab to the Park Board as the Town Board Representative.  This leaves one vacancy on the Park Board.  The board will seek nominations to the Park Board.

 

Park & Recreation Reports

Cove Boat Ramp

  1. Member Macdonell reported that the ice went out last week.  The dock was moved into a storage mooring position by Windmill Marina pending recovery of normal water levels.  Macdonell placed a sign on the dock warning visitors not to use it pending recovery of normal water levels, as use in its storage configuration might result in damage to the dock.
  2. Member Macdonell contacted St. Croix Electric Cooperative regarding modification of the existing street light near the Cove boat ramp.  St. Croix was going to provide pricing for replacement light fixtures for board review. 
  3. Member Schwab contact the Hudson Chamber of Commerce regarding the upcoming fishing tournament to be held in October 2008.  The organizers of the tournament had indicated that the participants will be using the ramps within the City of Hudson, the media will be using the ramp at Beanies in Lakeland, MN and spectators will likely use a variety of ramps.  However, the tournament organizers felt that the Cove boat ramp did not have the necessary parking capacity they needed and would not be listed as one of the primary boat ramps for tournament use.

 

Glover Park

  1. Consider Use Application for Youth Lacrosse League.  Hudson Youth Lacrosse has applied to use the soccer field for lacrosse play from mid-May through late July.  Discussion regarding potential conflict with the new baseball field construction ensued.  Member Small moved to approve the use application for the Hudson Youth Lacrosse program with an end date of June 15 with use beyond that date contingent upon availability of the space.  Motion seconded by Berke.  Motion failed 4-2.  Application is denied.  Berke will contact the lacrosse league and inform them of the board’s decision.
  2. Mapping Project.  Member Small reported that all of the new and existing trails were mapped using high resolution GPS.  Generation of the map will be done using Arc GIS and will be done over the next several weeks as time allows.  The final product will be a set of electronic files in DXF or similar format that Member Daun can import and have the laser engraved, permanent maps created from.  Daun is looking into pricing for substrate board materials.
  3. Second Baseball Field.  Member Macdonell reported that both the Hudson and River Falls baseball organizations have been meeting and are finally starting to see some progress regarding planning for the new ball field at Glover.  Macdonell hopes to have a more thorough concept and plans to present for the May 2008 meeting.
  4. Field Use Reservation Procedure.  Member Schwab has worked on the Park Facilities reservation process to make it more user friendly.  Park users have expressed concern that the current reservation system is not user friendly and there is no indication of the fee structure for reserving facilities.  Member Schwab has volunteered to work with the Town Clerk to assess the Town’s website capabilities for facility reservations and to develop a more user friendly reservation process.

 

Pemble’s Access

  1. Supervisor Cuccia reported that Pemble’s will be open weekends beginning in May.  She has arranged the port-a-potty for the entire season (it will be delivered May 2 and will be removed Spetember 29, 2008). 
  2. The dead tree has been cut down.  Visual inspection for damage or needed repairs will be done at the spring site visits. 
  3. The “NO SNOWMOBILING” sign has been installed.

 

Committee Reports

Ordinance Committee

The draft parks ordinance was briefly reviewed by the Park Board.  Supervisior Cuccia discussed the changes/updates that have been made to the ordinance.  She will email redlined versions of the ordinance to board members for detailed review.  Comments should be sent to Cuccia for incorporation into the ordinance.  The final parks ordinance will be reviewed for approval by the Town Board at the June 2008 meeting.

 

Trail marking and naming committee

Nothing to report this month.  Will discuss setting a committee meeting date at the site visit meeting.

 

Correspondence

River Falls Youth Baseball has requested a few weekend dates for access to the ball field.  Chair Berke asked them to contact the Town Clerk for reservation form.

 

Adjournment

Member Small moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Schwab.  Motion unanimously carried.  The April 22, 2008 meeting of the Town of Troy Park Board was adjourned at 10:30 PM.

 

These minutes were taken at a meeting of the Town of Troy Park Board held on April 22, 2008.

 

Respectfully submitted

 

 

 

Gregory L. Small

Secretary

 

 

Next Meeting:  May 6, 2008 Site Visit